Municipality employees demand better wages

Cleaners, gardeners and workers from the maintenance department of Muscat Municipality staged a protest at the municipality’s office in Darsait on Saturday. They demanded a salary hike and an increase in overtime allowance.

The protest comes after Muscat Municipality employees from different departments staged a protest two weeks back demanding a hike in their salaries. They also met H E Sultan bin Hamdoon al Harthy, chairman of Muscat Municipality, who promised to look into the matter.

Ali Shabibi, a protester said, “We work the entire day in the sun and are paid an overtime of only RO25 for three months. We are also not paid any allowance for Eid or other holidays when we work.”

At least 100 protesters braved the heat and squatted all over the place shouting slogans and carrying placards. Adding to Shabibi, another protester Yousef Ghazani said, “We work under the hot sun but there is no appreciation either in cash or kind.

“The management always gives us false promises. Officials in the management earn an overtime of RO80 a month and we are paid RO25 for three months. This is not fair and we will protest till our demands are met.”

When contacted, a senior official of the Muscat Municipality said that they are looking into protesters’ demands.